Unrequited
by inconsistent af
Summary: Shin. Shin. To. Shin. Shin. To. Are you crying again Juvia?


_Juvia sat beside Lucy's hospital bed, watching the severely injured blonde's chest rising and falling, rising and falling. The sound of the rain hammering down on the window seemed to echo the unconscious celestial spirit mage's breathing pattern._

 _Gray sat beside her, holding Lucy's hand, his fingers hovering above the blood vessel on the inside of her wrist, almost as if to reassure himself that her pulse was still there._

 _"Juvia doesn't think the rain is her fault," she said quietly, knowing entirely that it was a lie._

 _"I wouldn't blame you if it was," Gray replied, equally as quiet. "Damnit!" His voice raised sharply. "How could they do this to Lucy?"_

 _The rain seemed to fall a bit harder._

 _"Juvia is going for a walk," she rose in one fluid movement, brushing herself off._

 _"Where?"_

 _"Juvia doesn't know yet," it pained her to lie yet again to Gray, but she didn't want him getting in her way. She could've asked him to come with her, but she doubted he'd want to leave Lucy's side, for any reason._

 _Before he could enquire further, she had already left the hospital wing and was already swiftly making her way down the empty hallway._

 _It had been so long since Juvia had such an effect on the weather, that she didn't even have her pink umbrella, which had been her favourite possession back when she was in Phantom Lord. It was her only friend. That seemed like forever ago, now._

 _"What's wrong with you?"_

 _Juvia could already feel Gajeel's demeaning presence before he spoke and stepped out of the shadows._

 _"Juvia doesn't know what you mean, Gajeel kun."_

 _"I've known you far longer than anyone else has," he said, stuffing his hands into his pockets and walking beside her as the two stepped out into the rain. "I know what your rain feels like better than anyone else here."_

 _"Juvia doesn't think the rain is her fault."_

 _"Don't give me that shit. I know better than Gray."_

 _"You heard?"_

 _Gajeel shrugged his shoulders. "I was going to go visit, but then I decided not to." He looked towards her. "You're not actually going to go to Sabertooth, are you?"_

 _"How did you know?" Juvia asked, half heartedly, already knowing the answer._

 _"Like I said earlier, I know you better than Gray." Gajeel punched his hand. "I'll come, too. You're not the only one who wants to get revenge for Lucy."_

 _"Juvia doesn't think that's a very good idea. You're still competing, Gajeel kun, you can get disqualified for that. Yes, Juvia thinks it's a better idea for you to stay here."_

 _"Will you be alright, though?" Gajeel asked, uncertainly._

 _"Juvia's body is made of water, no physical attacks can harm Juvia," she practically recited to him._

 _"Yeah, but-"_

 _"Juvia used to be apart of Phantom Lord's Element Four. It's like Gajeel kun said, Gajeel kun knows Juvia better than anyone, right?"_

 _"Take care of yourself, then, Juvia," Gajeel said, turning around in the direction of the pub. "Because if you're not back in an hour, I'm coming for you, disqualified or not."_

 _Juvia stopped and watched as he walked away. He reached his hand upwards and Juvia felt her heart warm slightly. He hand his four fingers extended, but bent at the end. Back in Phantom Lord, that was how the Elemental Four bid each other farewell. Smiling slightly to herself, Juvia wondered whether it would be a good idea to organise a reunion. It had been a while since she had last seen Monsieur Sol, Totomaru and Aria._

 _Her smile quickly vanished as she continued on her way towards the hotel at which Sabertooth were staying._

 _The rain fell harder. Her blue hair, normally shiny and wavy stuck matte and damp to her forehead. Her boots squelched as she walked. Like her umbrella, she never thought she'd be angry or depressed enough to need those ugly waterproof boots ever again._

 _She set her lips into a firm line as she broke out into a run._

* * *

 _Shin._

 _Shin._

 _To._

 _Shin._

 _Shin._

 _To._

"Are you crying, again, Juvia?" Gray whispered as he slammed his last of many empty shot glasses of the night down onto the bar.

 _"Gray sama never loved Juvia, anyway."_

"Why are you so sad?"

 _Shin._

 _Shin._

 _To._

 _"Juvia is a gloomy rain woman."_

"Tell me."

 _"Juvia's body is made of water. Physical attacks will not harm Juvia."_

"Come back to me, Juvia."

 _"Fare thee well."_

"No, don't go."

 _Shin._

 _Shin._

The rain stopped.

Gray tentatively stroked his damp cheeks.

 _"Juvia is a gloomy rain woman."_

 _"Juvia doesn't think the rain is her fault."_

 _"Gray sama!"_

He could almost see her smiling face, retreating steadily through the condensed cluster of people in the crowd.

"Wait for me, Juvia."

He got off his chair, and immediately fell over.

"Take me with you."

He crawled across the guild floor, attracting the attention of many of his guild mates.

Lucy flung open the guild doors to come in, as his mirage of Juvia floated out.

"No!" Gray screamed. "Come back."

The alcohol he had drowned himself in backfired on his arms and legs as he tried to claw his way to the door.

The guild doors slammed shut behind Lucy.

 _It's all your fault, Lucy. If you hadn't been so weak fighting Minerva, Juvia wouldn't feel the need to get revenge._

Lucy, Lucy. Of course, that was how things were. Lucy stays and Juvia goes. No wonder Juvia had always called her a love rival. Had she known all along that Lucy would be the one to tear them apart?

He sighed. He shouldn't blame Lucy. It was ultimately his fault, after all.

They weren't even able to give her a proper burial. Her body had broken into fragments of delicate water droplets. A crying Gray had tried to scoop them up at the time, trying to recover as much as her body as he could and failing.

* * *

 _"She isn't," Gray scoffed. "That's preposterous. Juvia's smarter than that."_

 _Gajeel sighed and folded his arms. "I know Juvia better than you ever will, why do you think it's raining so hard?"_

 _"Juvia said she didn't think the rain was her fault."_

 _"She lied, you dumb piece of shit," Gajeel replied curtly. "Go after her."_

 _"Why didn't you stop her?" Gray asked angrily, standing up._

 _"She won't listen to me she'll only listen to you. I would go now if I were you. Maybe you could intercept her."_

 _"Shit," Gray let go of Lucy's hand and ran to the door. Lucy would have to wait._ Wait for me _, he thought, gritting his teeth._ Juvia _._

* * *

 _Shin._

 _Shin._

 _To._

 _Shin._

 _Shin._

 _To._

The rain drove Gray insane. The rhythmic drip dropping of the rain scorched his bare skin. Was that Juvia's wrath? Her pain? He shut his eyes in anguish as he walked down the empty street. Empty. Just him and Juvia. The way it should've been. Just not like this.

"Are you angry again, Juvia?" he whispered softly. "Don't be angry."

 _"You shall not harm Gray sama!"_

 _"_ _A rival in love, Juvia cannot forgive this, Juvia will not forgive Lucy!"_

"Yeah, neither can I, Juvia."

There he was, trying to pin the blame on the love rival, again.

"When will you put me out of my misery, Juvia?"

The rain stopped.

"Avoiding the question again, are we?" he laughed bitterly to himself.

* * *

 _"I'm going back to my room," Minerva told her father, a smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Oh, and Rufus, we're swapping rooms."_

 _The memory mage bowed his head respectfully. "As you wish, my lady."_

 _"Why do you want his room all the sudden?" Sting inquired. "Surely yours is grander."_

 _"His overlooks the city," she replied simply. "And his balcony is bigger. All the better for enjoying the storm."_

 _Both Sting and Lector gave her a strange look as she turned her back and teleported herself inside her newly claimed room and went out onto the balcony._

 _Thunder roared as streaks of lightning flew across the sky. "It seems," Minerva muttered delightfully to herself. "That the renowned water mage of the disbanded Phantom Lord's Element Four is coming for me." She chuckled. "Show me how much power you have when you're serious, Juvia of the Deep."_

 _The said mage looked up at her from the ground, with fearsome eyes that would've given anyone but Minerva the chills as she leaned on the railing._

 _"I'm ready when you are."_

 _Juvia leapt onto the balcony with agility and grace to rival Minerva's own. If only she don't look so angry. Anger was ugly._

 _"How dare you do what you did to Lucy!" Juvia yelled in her direction, as a jet of steaming hot water launched itself towards the space mage._

 _A jet of water that of course missed her, due to Minerva's space manipulating magic._

 _"My, my, you look so ugly when you're angry," Minerva chuckled as her own attack went straight through Juvia's unique body._

 _"Your physical attack cannot harm Juvia."_

 _"Oh, but can this?"_

 _Minerva made a twisting motion with her hand that made Juvia scream in pain._

 _"I manipulate space, you see? If I twist the space where your body is, your freaky body will twist with it. I won't let it liquify."_

 _Juvia screamed as Minerva twisted the space where her ankle was, her leg was and then where her chest was._

 _"Though your anger is ugly, you have a very pretty scream."_

 _She kicked Juvia as she fell to the ground. "You can't liquify when you're this injured," Minerva murmured. She grasped Juvia by the throat, the very way she had grabbed Lucy and dangled her outside the ledge of the balcony._

 _Juvia kicked the glass beneath the railing and Minerva almost cried out as the tiny fragments embedded themselves into her uncovered leg. "Nasty little bitch," she hissed. "Oh how the mighty have fallen," she snickered, recovering her composure. "The feared Juvia of the Great Sea." Juvia screamed as Minerva lashed out once more. "Joining the lowest of all guilds, the one that brought her own to rubble. Out of interest, why Fairy Tail?" She leaned closer to her. "Was it for Gray sama?" she taunted in a babyish voice._

 _Juvia reached out and slashed at Minerva's face. Though her nails hardly made contact with the other girls face, but it was enough to draw just a little bit of blood._

 _Minerva scowled as she made the water Mage scream in agony once more._

 _"Juvia!" Minerva raised an eyebrow as she looked down, seeing Juvia's beloved Gray sama shirtless on the sidewalk below._

 _"You know, I wouldn't have joined the guild just for him," Minerva continued as she tightened her grip on Juvia's neck, making the other girl splutter and choke._

 _She could see Gray's cheeks redden at her words as Juvia's eyes began to water._

 _"You should give up. Risking your life for him, rushing to his aid every time, helping his friends whenever they ever need helping. You gave so much for him."_

 _"Juvia loves Gray sama," the girl choked._

 _"He never loved you."_

 _Juvia's sad smile was even uglier to Minerva than her anger. "Juvia knows that, of course."_

 _"Tch." Minerva let go of Juvia and watched her fall. "Die, ugly trash."_

 _"Juvia!" Gray screamed her name, watching her dainty figure loose consciousness as it sliced through the air and he reached out to catch her. But as soon as her skin made contact with his, her body liquified and slipped through his outstretched arms, splattering into the dirty gutter._

* * *

 _Shin._

 _Shin._

 _To._

 _Shin._

 _Shin._

 _To._

It even rained by the seaside. It made Gray feel secure for the first time as he swam out from the shore.

All water makes it back to the sea one way or another.

 _Hey, Juvia, I know you're here._ He wasn't expecting a response, but pressed on anyway. _I miss you, you know. I miss your laugh, I miss your smile, I miss everything about you. I miss your kindness, I miss your melodramatic declarations._

 _And I want you to know that I'm sorry, for everything. Not caring enough. Not saving you. Not treating you like you should've been treated. You made me a better person, Juvia. You taught me lots of things. And it hurts every time I think about you and I think about how I always took you for granted. My life fell apart without you. I needed you._

 _I came out here to be with you, one last time before I die. I always dreamed about being killed in action, I always wanted my death to be an admirable one. But I changed my mind, now, being here. I just want to die with you and be with you for eternity._

A smile graced his lips as he slipped under the surface of the water and let the depths of the sea envelope him. He could swear he saw Juvia smiling back at him as he slowly closed his eyes.

And for the first time in five years, he finally felt at peace.

 _Hey, Juvia, I love you. I thought you deserved to know that your love wasn't unrequited._


End file.
